There was a time when much of the San Gabriel Valley – in particular Pasadena, West Covina and Whittier – was considered a Republican bastion.

Republicans, such as the late President Richard Nixon from Whittier and in more recent times Rep. James Rogan and Assemblyman Bill Hoge of Pasadena, represented this area in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But no more. And Tuesday’s election where Democrat Gov.-elect Jerry Brown and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer won in all but a few areas – such as Arcadia, Glendora, La Mirada, San Dimas and San Marino – continued that trend.

From Brown’s 65-31 percent margin over Republican Meg Whitman in Pasadena to Boxer’s 48-45 margin over Republican Carly Fiorina in Covina or Brown’s 52-42 lead in Whittier, it was a good day for Democrats in this area and in California.

Area leaders and experts say demographic changes – especially the increase in Latino population – are responsible for much of the reason for the success of Democrats.

“In these areas the older population has either died off or moved to other areas,” said Ken Miller, associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. “That’s a part of it as well.”

The process began more than 20 years ago and Democrats are benefit from an increasing politicization of Latinos, he said.

It isn’t just the San Gabriel Valley and Whittier areas that have been affected by this change, Miller said.

At one time, Los Angeles County was considered a “swing county” in terms of elections, he said. The congressional delegation was evenly split between Republicans and Democrats and the San Gabriel Valley and Whittier portions were considered more Republican areas.

Democrats were limited to more Latino or working-class areas such as El Monte, Montebello and Pico Rivera.

The last time residents in cities like Covina, La Verne, Sierra Madre and Whittier voted for a republican governor was 2002. The last time residents in Duarte, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Whittier leaned Republican for governor was 1994.

Miller said Republicans in California now seem restricted to a few pockets in the Golden State, such as Orange County or the Inland Empire.

“They’ve abandoned in some ways what should be battle ground areas,” he said.

These same demographic changes have happened in Pasadena, said Bill Bogaard, its mayor since 1999.

“I know in the years of the 1990s there was a reduction of Caucasians of 9,000 and an increase of Latino heritage of 9,000,” he said. “I’m not sure why it’s happened but there’s been a long-standing trend of Caucasians leaving the community and retiring in beach communities or elsewhere.”

Steve Herfert, who has been on the West Covina City Council for 21 years, said Proposition 187 – the 1994 initiative that would have banned undocumented immigrants from health care, public schools and other social services – was a tipping point for Latinos.

“It drove a lot of Hispanics from the Republican Party,” Herfert said.

Mike Spence, chairman of the San Gabriel Valley chapter of the Republican fundraising group Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs, said he doesn’t think it’s quite that simple.

“I think it had an impact but I think people overplay that,” said Spence, also a West Covina Unified School District board member. “There are a lot of Hispanics in the San Gabriel Valley who don’t like illegal immigration.”

In addition, Republicans were starting to struggle in this area before 1994. For example, former President Bill Clinton won in the San Gabriel Valley in 1992, he said.

Spence said he still believes much of these former Republican areas are still conservative.

“Proposition 8 (which banned gay marriage) passed in the San Gabriel Valley,” he said. “But at the top of the ticket they vote Democrat. We have not done a good job in articulating the party’s positions.”

In this year’s election, Whitman probably hurt herself with Latinos, said Ralph Pacheco, a Whittier Union High School District board member and political consultant.

The controversy over her illegal immigrant housekeeper didn’t help either, Pacheco said.

Yet there is still some hope for Republicans in this area.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, their candidate for state Attorney General, broke through with wins in a number of areas where Fiorina and Whitman didn’t. Examples are in Covina, San Gabriel, Sierra Madre, Temple City and Whittier.

In terms of propositions on the ballot, this area voted mostly as the state did.

There were some exceptions. The cities of Bradbury, Industry and La Habra Heights gave majorities to Proposition 23, the measure that would have suspended AB 32, the “Global Warming Act of 2006.”

And the cities of Pasadena and South Pasadena voted for Proposition 19 that would have legalized recreational marijuana.

Mike Sprague started at the Whittier Daily News in April 1984. Since then, Sprague has covered every city in the Whittier Daily News circulation area, as well as political and water issues. Sprague received a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science, both from Cal State Fullerton.

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